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John Ryan – long a thoroughly likeable and energetic presence on the stand-up circuit – has more or less become a comedy counsellor. The Irish-descended East Ender is still doing the rounds with 2007’s Hurt Until It Laughs, a ‘warts- and-all performance’ that tried to encourage men to lose their hang-ups when it comes to visiting the doc and discussing medical issues. Now he has another health-related show, Those YoungMinds, which he performs as part of the Camden Fringe festival.

Those YoungMinds comes with worthy-sounding baggage; it’s commissioned by the YoungMinds children’s mental health and well-being charity – its theme is fatherhood and it aims to ‘break down barriers’. But it’s likely to be fun: Ryan’s genial appeal stems from his ability to connect with the common man; his dad anecdotes come from raising his own three children, and stories he heard during investigations on ‘dad’ forums and in the pub.

Most importantly, YoungMinds has played no part in censoring the show’s content – though we’d be surprised if this deviated from Ryan’s family-friendly cosiness. This, after all, is a man who, to raise money for people with Aids and HIV, persuaded Bargain Hunt’s David Dickinson to join him skipping around Edinburgh. If this doesn’t ooze with cheerful spirit, we’ll eat our yo-yos.